In an interview Contemporary OB/GYN, Mary Tan, a fourth-year medical student at Drexel University College of Medicine, discussed a study analyzing the link between pregnancy-related disorders and heart disease in menopausal women.
The research focused on conditions such as preeclampsia, gestational hypertension and gestational diabetes, which are known to increase the risk of heart disease in later life. Tan noticed a lack of research on these pregnancy disorders in menopausal women, which led her to begin researching the topic.
This study was a cross-sectional analysis that used data from a larger investigation known as the Breast Arterial Calcification Study. It included 380 women, with an average age of 81.6 years, primarily from Connecticut. With a 20% retention rate, many participants were lost due to death or lack of follow-up, but the remaining data provided valuable insights. The primary goal of the study was to evaluate whether pregnancy-related conditions are associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease in menopausal women.
Interestingly, the study found that gestational hypertension, rather than preeclampsia, was strongly associated with heart disease risk. This finding was unexpected because previous studies and meta-analyses have generally pointed to preeclampsia as a strong predictor of heart disease. Tan's study did not show the same association for preeclampsia or gestational diabetes.
Tan emphasized the importance of understanding how pregnancy-related factors from decades ago can affect women's health as they age. Since women make up half of the world's population and are aging, she emphasized that medical professionals should consider pregnancy-related factors when assessing cardiovascular risk in older women. Given the current lack of research, Tan hopes her study will serve as a basis for further exploration of how these early-life conditions affect the health of menopausal and postmenopausal women.